Dunny stories continue to come it, perhaps surprisingly when you consider how long it’s been since they were part of life, but they still loom large in the minds of many Col8ers.

Patricia Slidziunas of Woonona talks about, “Christmas visitors to Thirroul who, in the days of the dunny man, put an extra strain on locals. Additional cans could be ordered and self changed as needed, and men visitors were asked to discreetly use the lemon tree for light relief.”

Peter Riley of Penrith recalls, “Hornsby Council’s dunny trucks emptied in a field at the end of Quarter Sessions Road in Thornleigh. The dunny trucks were modified but underpowered WWII army surplus and would pick up speed coming down Duffy Avenue and then do a hard right to get up the Quarter Sessions Road hill. The contents of the cans would slosh about and an occasional land mine would be left behind for unwary pedestrians.”

From Wollongong, Mia David adds, “When we were growing up, most of our neighbourhood grew vegetables in the backyard. The men of the various families were known to surreptitiously tip a fair portion of the dunny contents into a large hole in the middle of the veggie patch – it made a marvellous fertiliser, and we had the biggest strawberries in the street.”

Dave Pyett of Maroubra reports, “On summer holidays in Katoomba, probably the late 1950s, behind our little rented cottage was the outside dunny. Nothing sinister in there (usually), except when my friend’s sister sat too long, and we then rocked the whole outhouse until she shot out. One early morning the dunny man was late, we looked down the street and there he was, his truck nearly upside down in the ditch on the side of the road, and all the pans tipped out. The dunny man was OK, a bit miffed, but, good manure for the plants in the ditch.”

Donald Hawes of Peel says, “An out-of-season mention of our dunny men in Broken Hill: my parents would leave a bottle of Cooper’s Stout on the lid for the collection before Christmas. This was a common practice in the city and the fellow managed to juggle both pan and bottle back the dunny-cart, where space was allocated for the retrieved booty.”

To end on a different subject, many alert Col8ers have been pleased to point out the nominative determinism of Jayne Hrdlicka taking over as chief executive of the group that runs hotels, BWS and Dan Murphy’s.

Column8@smh.com.au

No attachments, please. Include

name, suburb and daytime phone